


Ritter Baby Chronicles: The Rights and Wrongs of A First Kid

by JillHayes



Category: BrainDead (TV)
Genre: F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, I'm Bad At Tagging, In-Laws, Parenthood
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-02-21
Packaged: 2018-09-18 07:36:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9374717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JillHayes/pseuds/JillHayes
Summary: I know this should've been my first chapter, but it took me so long to write, sorry.





	1. The Ritter Clan Visit

Laurel and Gareth had been home with their newborn daughter for 5 days now, and Laurel constantly just wants to sleep.  When Jacqueline wakes up in the middle of the night, Gareth tries to go get her, but Laurel has to, to feed her.  

One night, after Laurel had fed her, Gareth walks into the nursery.  “Hey, I wanna see my angel.”  He walks up to where Laurel is standing, wrapping his arms around her waist from behind.  “God, she is beautiful.”  

Laurel looks up at him, smiling.  “She looks just like you.”  Gareth goes in front of Laurel, “Let me take her.”  He takes her out of Laurel’s arms, Jackie nuzzling into his chest.  “She’s gonna start thinking you’re me if you keep holding her without a shirt on.”  

“That’s insulting, Laurel.  She knows the difference between her mom and her dad.”  Laurel leans up and kisses him, “I’m just messing with you.  She really loves you.”  Gareth smiles down at his daughter in his arms.  

“She is absolutely perfect.”  He then remembers something, as Laurel runs her hand down the back of Jackie’s head, “My parents are coming into town tomorrow.  They get here around noon.”  

Laurel throws her head back, “Why? We just got home, I just want to relax without being told everything I’m doing wrong.”  Gareth chuckles at her, “Go back to sleep, I’ll get her back to sleep.”  

 

“Laurel, come on, my parents will be here in a few minutes.”  Laurel gets out of bed, carrying Jackie into the living room to the couch.  

“Why can’t we lay in bed? I’d rather be in there than on the couch.”  Gareth kisses Laurel’s forehead, and then Jackie’s.  “Because, our room is a mess, and if my mom sees it, she’ll have a cow.”  

Laurel’s jaw drops, in fake offense, “I’m sorry that our room is a mess.  I’ve been a little busy, nursing your child and trying not to have a panic attack over the fact that I’m a mother now.”  Gareth chuckles at her, and sits down next to her side with Jackie’s head.  

“Oh come on, we both know that I do most of the cleaning in the apartment.”  Laurel rolls her eyes as they hear a knock on the door.  

“Get ready, cause you’re in for a treat when my mom sees Jackie.”  Gareth says, before quickly placing a kiss on Laurel’s lips.  He goes over to the door and opens it, barely enough for Nora to burst in, running over to the couch.  

“Oh my goodness gracious! Hand over my precious granddaughter.”  Laurel peels Jackie off of her chest, handing her carefully to Nora.  

Gareth walks over to the couch with his dad and sister following.  He sits down next to his mom, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he kisses her on the cheek.  “It’s good to see you mom.”  

She turns to look at him, “Oh honey, it’s good to see you too, I’m sorry, I just couldn’t wait to hold her any longer.”  Gareth chuckles and gets up to sit next to Laurel.  “So, what’s her full name, again?”  Nora asks, looking over to Laurel.  

“It’s Jacqueline Olivia Ritter.”  Nora raises her eyebrows toward Gareth, “Jacqueline?  Where’d that come from?”  He looks to Laurel, for her to answer.  

“Jacqueline Kennedy.  She was a strong, very empowering woman, and I believe it’s important to give my daughter a name that will help her feel empowered and proud to be a woman.”  Gareth smiles up at Laurel, before looking to his mother.  “That is beautiful, Laurel.  And where did Olivia come from?”

Gareth speaks up this time, “I thought it was a cute name, so I chose that one.”  Nora shifts Jackie in her arms, as Cathy walks over to the couch from the other chair in the room.  “Can I hold her?”  

Gareth gets up, making room for Cathy to sit where he was.  He takes Jackie from Nora’s arms and waits for Cathy to get comfortable.  “Here you go, monkey.”  He places the baby into Cathy’s arms, kneeling down next to the couch.  

“She looks just like you, Gareth.”  Cathy says, looking down at him.  “That’s what everyone keeps telling me.”  

 

After about an hour or so of just catching up, Jackie decides she’s hungry.  “I’ll feed her, Laurel, I’ll get the bottle ready.  Is everything in the kitchen?”  Nora exclaims as she gets up off the couch, “Oh, mom, Laurel has to feed her.”  Gareth says, as Laurel gets up off the couch, holding Jackie.  

“I haven’t had time to pump more milk, so I’ll feed her really quick, you guys can just hangout in here.”  Gareth stops her before she can leave the room.  “Just feed her in here, I’ll get your pillow and blanket.” 

“No, Gareth, maybe she should do it in your bedroom.”  Sam says, looking up at them.  “Dad, she’ll be covered up.  You’re not gonna see anything.”  Laurel puts a hand on Gareth’s chest, and leans in giving him a quick peck on the lips.  

“It’s okay, Gareth, I’ll be in Jackie’s room if you need me.”  She heads out to the nursery to feed Jackie, needing some alone time anyways.  

 

While burping Jackie, Gareth pokes his head into the nursery.  “You doing alright?”  She looks up at him, “Yeah, you wanna put her down for her nap?”  He walks over to the rocking chair and takes Jackie out of Laurel’s arms.  

“Hi princess!  Let’s get you changed and down for a nap, okay?”  She giggles at him, as he sets her down on the changing table.  

“You are just the sweetest baby on the planet, aren’t you?”  He changes her quickly before taking her to her crib.  As he’s laying her down in it, she immediately starts screaming.  “Hey, hey, come on now.  Jackie, you need to sleep, okay?”  He says in his baby voice, running his hand down her stomach to soothe her. 

Laurel walks back into the room with some freshly washed blankets to put away.  “Why is she crying?”  Gareth looks up at her before picking Jackie back up, which causes her to stop crying.  

“I don’t know, it was as soon as I put her down, she just started freaking out.”  Nora walks into the nursery, noticing Jackie crying.  Gareth puts her back down in the crib, resulting in her screaming again.  

“Honey, what did you do?”  Nora asks, walking over to the baby and Gareth, Laurel rolls her eyes and starts putting the laundry away.  

“Mom, it’s fine, she just needs a minute to relax.”  Gareth sits next to Jackie, soothing her.  “Honestly, Gareth, it’s like you have no idea how to take care of a baby.  You have to hold her until she falls asleep.  You can’t just expect her to cry herself to sleep.”  

Laurel interrupts, “Nora, we’d like for Jackie to be independent when she grows up, so we don’t want to coddle her.  When she goes down for a nap, we try to do it as quickly as possible.”  

Gareth picks Jackie up and carries her into his and Laurel’s bedroom, followed by Laurel and Nora behind her, ranting to her about parenting.  

 

“Gareth just lay her down on our bed to nap.”  Laurel says, giving up on Jackie actually sleeping while Gareth’s parents are here.  “Are you crazy? She could fall off the bed!”  Nora yells, causing Jackie to start crying again.  

Gareth starts rocking her gently, to calm her down, “Mom, please stop, we have pillows to put around her, she’ll be fine.  You’re upsetting Laurel and Jackie, please stop.”  He realizes he shouldn’t have mentioned Laurel when it was already too late.  

“Fine, if I’m not wanted here, we will just go on to our hotel and get out of your hair.  We can go sightseeing, instead.”  Nora says, matter of factly.  “Mom, come on.”  Nora grabs her purse and Sam is at the door, Cathy still on the couch.  

“Cathy can stay here if she wants, but your father and I are going to the hotel.”  Gareth hands Jackie to Laurel, “Come on, mom, please stay.”  

“No, clearly, you are going a different parenting route than I would, so you don’t need my help.  We will be back later for dinner tonight.”  Gareth gives up, clearly she isn’t going to stay, so he grabs Jackie and heads into their bedroom.  

 

“Gareth, I need your help!”  Laurel yells from the nursery.  Gareth runs in, “What do you need?”  She hands him the burping cloth and Jackie, “Feed her, I’m getting nowhere, there’s a bottle in the mini fridge.”  She points to the fridge below the crib.  

Laurel walks out of the room, leaving Gareth with a tired, and fussy newborn.  “Jackie, why won’t you eat?”  He grabs a bottle out of the fridge, and sits down in the rocking chair.  

He puts the bottle to her lips and she refuses it, “Come on baby, you gotta eat.”  He repositions her so that her head is on his chest, he rubs her back lightly to relax her.  “Will you please eat for me, princess?”

He holds her where he can feed her again, and puts the bottle to her lips, she starts eating it and Gareth feels extremely proud of himself.  

 

After she finished the bottle, Gareth burps her and then changes her, putting her in pajamas.  He takes her out to where everyone is, “Guys, someone wants to say goodnight.”  Nora and Cathy fawn over Jackie before Sam comes over, placing a kiss on her head.  “Goodnight angel.”  

Gareth takes her over to Laurel, and she places a kiss on her forehead, “Goodnight Jackie, I love you.”  Gareth takes her into his and Laurel’s bedroom, where her bassinet is.  “Sweet dreams, princess.  I love you.”  He leans down to kiss her on the top of her head, before walking out to the kitchen.  

“So, have you guys thought about coming to Indiana for Jackie’s christening?”  Sam asks from across the dinner table.  “I didn’t know we were planning on doing a christening for Jackie, did you plan one, Gareth?”  

Gareth puts his hand on Laurel’s back, “Laurel, please don’t do that right now.”  She looks up at him, not having it anymore.  “Did you tell your parents that we would christen Jackie?”  He shrugs his shoulders, not wanting to admit the truth.  

“Gareth! What the hell?”  Laurel yells, a little too loudly.  “Laurel, calm down you’ll wake up the baby.”  Gareth grabs her hand, trying to calm her down.  “No, because you’re telling your parents shit that isn’t going to happen.”  She says the last part aimed directly toward Nora and Sam.  

As she says this, Jackie cries out from their bedroom.  Laurel gets up from the table, “I’ve got her, don’t worry.”  She can hear Gareth apologizing to his parents, which causes her to get even more agitated and roll her eyes.  

She picks Jackie up, soothing her as her cries fade.  “I’m sorry for waking you.  You can go back to sleep now, though, can’t you?”  Laurel puts her back in the bassinet and waits for Jackie’s eyes to close before going back to the dining room.  

 

“Was she alright?”  Nora asks, looking up at Laurel, worried.  “Yeah, she just woke up.  She went straight back to sleep, though.”  

Laurel sits back down, Gareth places a kiss on her cheek, smiling at her.  “Well, with all the yelling that was going on, who would be able to sleep around here.”  Sam speaks up, looking at Laurel.  

“Dad, stop it.”  Gareth says, angrily, while Nora looks up at Sam, “Sam, that’s enough.  We did cross a bit of a line there, Laurel.  We shouldn’t have assumed you’d be okay with the whole baptism thing.”  

“It’s fine, I just really don’t want to force her into a religion she could potentially not want to believe in.  I don’t think it’s fair.  I’d rather have her make that decision for herself.”  Gareth rubs the small of Laurel’s back, looking at her with so much pride.  


	2. Luke Healy and Company

After a few days of way too much of the Ritter side,  Laurel was happy to see Gareth’s parents go.  She didn’t mind having Cathy around, however, she was more help than Gareth’s mom or dad, and she and Laurel got along much better than Laurel did with Nora or Sam.  

“Hey, you okay?”  Gareth asks, walking into their bedroom, where Laurel was feeding Jackie.  “Yeah, I’m good, exhausted, but I’m fine.”

“Thank you for not fighting too much with my parents, it really means a lot.”  Gareth climbs onto their bed, laying down next to where Laurel was sitting.  “I love your parents, Gareth, but I knew they’d say some things about the way we are doing things.”  

Gareth strokes Jackie’s head in a soothing manner.  “Stop it, loser, you’re gonna put her to sleep.”  Laurel swats his hand away, and he kisses up her shoulder to her neck.  Making his way to her lips.  

“Your brother wants to come by with Grace and Germaine soon, when should I tell him to come?”  Laurel throws her head back, out of pure exhaustion.  “Never, I am too tired for people to come around anymore.”  

She repositions Jackie so that her head is on Laurel’s shoulder.  “Here, I’ll take her.”  Gareth sits up and puts her on his chest to burp her.  “How about they come by tonight?  I can order Chinese food, and we can just sit in here or in the living room and hang out, and maybe watch a movie or something.”  

Gareth moves so that his legs are stretched out, placing Jackie so that she’s lying in between his legs.  “That’s fine, I just don’t want to have to try around people.  Make sure Luke knows that.”  

Gareth looks up at her from Jackie, “I’m sure he knows, Laurel.  Can you text him and also ask to pick up the food? I’ll order it, he just has to pick it up.”  Laurel grabs her phone off the nightstand, while Gareth plays with the baby.  

 

When Luke and Germaine show up, Gareth has blankets and pillows down on the floor in the living room with Netflix set up.  

“Uncle Gareth!”  Grace yells, running over to Gareth.  He picks her up, spinning her around.  “Hi Gracie! What’s going on?”  He holds her on his hip as she giggles at him, “Are we gonna watch a movie?” 

“Of course we are, what else would we do when you’re here?”  Luke walks over to Gareth with Germaine following, “Where’s Laurel?”  Gareth points toward the nursery, “Feeding Jackie, she’ll be out in a minute.  You can put the food in the kitchen if you want.”  

“Uncle Gareth, can I have some juice?”  He carries Grace into the kitchen, “Of course, what kind of juice do you want?”  He opens up the fridge, showing her what they have.  She hops down from his hip and points to the apple juice.  

“Alright! Apple juice is my favorite, did you know that?”  Grace shakes her head, “Aunt Laurie loves orange juice, did you know that, Uncle Gareth?”  He pulls her sippy cup out of the cabinet and pours her juice for her.  

“I did know that,” he looks up to see Laurel standing at the island, with Luke holding Jackie, “go see your Aunt Laurie, Grace.”  Grace turns around, and as soon as she sees Laurel, her mouth opens wide in a smile, her eyes opening wide.  

“Aunt Laurie!”  She runs over and Laurel picks her up, Grace squeezes her neck, tightly.  “I missed you, Gracie!”  Grace holds up her apple juice in her hand, “Look what Uncle Gareth got me!”  Luke looks over at Gareth, “Really man?  We are trying to keep the sugar to a minimum right now.”  

Gareth throws his hands up, “It’s sugar free, don’t worry.  I learned after the last time we watched her.”  Laurel puts Grace down and starts digging through the food bag.  

“Wow, calm down there, Laurel.”  Luke says, laughing.  Grace has found her way back to Gareth, who is holding her again, “You hungry, sweetheart?”  Laurel nods, pulling her food out of the bag.  “Is everyone just going to stand around?  I’m starving and bored, let’s go.”  Luke hands over Jackie to Gareth, who puts her in her bed of pillows in the living room next to Laurel, before going back to grab his food.

“Uncle Gareth! Hurry up!”  Gareth runs into the living room, carrying his food.  He sits down on the floor next to Laurel with his back to the couch.  “What movie are we watching?”  

Luke hits play on the tv, “Grace has picked out Moana.”  Germaine says, Luke interjects with, “Which, never gets annoying, or anything.”  Grace crosses her arms over her chest, pouting.  She may be 4, but she has picked up on sarcasm, considering who her dad and aunt are.  

“Grace, I love Moana.  I haven’t watched it in forever!”  Gareth says, smiling at her.  “See daddy? Uncle Gareth loves it!”  Luke puts his finger to his lips to shush her, “You’re missing the movie, when you talk Grace.  Remember when we talked about that?” 

Grace holds her finger to her lips, just as Luke had done.  “Sorry daddy.”  Grace moves from Luke’s lap to Germaine’s to eat her dinner.  

 

About halfway through the movie, Jackie ends up on Gareth’s chest, asleep.  Soon after, Grace finds her way to Gareth’s lap, careful of Jackie, she lays back on his chest.  

Laurel looks over at Luke, signalling to snap a picture, so Luke takes his phone out getting a picture of Gareth.  

 

Once the movie is over, Grace and Jackie are asleep, Gareth looks like he’s about to fall asleep, and Germaine is asleep on Luke.   

“Gareth, honey.  I’ll take Jackie to bed.”  Laurel reaches for the sleeping baby on Gareth’s chest.  He kisses her on the forehead, leaving Laurel to take her.  Gareth wraps his arms around Grace in a comforting way, before getting up off the floor.  

“Can you take her out to the car? Germaine and I will be out there in a second.”  Gareth grabs a blanket to wrap around Grace before grabbing Luke’s keys off the front hall table.  Grace shifts a bit, “Uncle Gareth…” 

He places a kiss on her temple before opening the car door, “It’s okay, go back to sleep.”  He puts her in her car seat, buckling her in and placing the blanket over top of her as Luke and Germaine walk out of the apartment.

“Thanks for bringing her out Gareth.”  Germaine hugs Gareth before opening her door, “Jackie is absolutely beautiful.”  

Luke shakes Gareth’s hand, “Don’t let Laurel get too in her head about the whole parenting thing, okay? She tends to do that.”  

“I’ll try my best.  Be careful guys, thanks for coming over.”  Gareth says, as Luke walks to the driver’s side of the car and gets in.  Gareth walks back up the stairs and into the apartment.  

“Is Jackie still asleep?”  Gareth asks as Laurel approaches him.  “Yeah, she woke up for a second, but went straight back to sleep, so she’s good for a few hours.”  

“Is there enough milk in the fridge in the nursery?”  Gareth asks, leading Laurel to the bedroom.  “Yeah, can you feed her if she needs it in the middle of the night?  If I don’t sleep at least 5 hours tonight, I might actually drop dead.”  

Gareth nods, leaning in to kiss her.  They get in bed, and fall asleep faster than most people normally do.  Gareth goes back to work in the morning, which he’s not looking forward to being away from Jackie and Laurel all day.  However, they promised to come by at lunch to see him.  

 

In the middle of the night, Jackie wakes up screaming her head off.  Gareth jumps out of bed, careful not to wake Laurel, and runs into the nursery.  “Hey baby, what’s wrong?”  He pulls her out of the bassinet, which had been moved to the nursery to make sure Laurel could sleep.  

He rests her on his chest, rocking her gently.  “It’s okay Jackie, it’s alright princess.”  He rubs his hand down her back, trying to calm her down.  “Shhh…”  She continues crying for a minute, so Gareth reaches down in the fridge to get a bottle out.  

“Here, you hungry?”  He puts the bottle to her lips, and she refuses it.  “Jackie, what’s wrong sweetheart?”  He puts the bottle back in the fridge and sits down in the rocking chair, grabbing the pacifier off the bookshelf next to it.  

He puts it in her mouth, holding it for a minute until she calms down.  “There we go, what was so bad that you had to keep crying for, huh?”  Once she falls back asleep, he lays her back down and heads back to bed, where Laurel is awake, waiting for him.  

“What was wrong?”  He climbs into bed, nuzzling his head between her shoulder and head.  “She probably just had a scary dream or something.  She’s fine now.”   


	3. Visiting Gareth at Work and a Stressful Night

The next day, Laurel spent the entire morning cleaning and doing dishes.  She got Jackie ready and put her in the stroller, heading over to the senate offices.  

“Hey Fran, is Gareth in a meeting?”  Fran, Gareth’s assistant, gets up from her desk, walking over to Laurel and the stroller.  “He’ll be back in a couple of minutes.  He’s upstairs right now.  Is this Jackie?”  Laurel pulls Jackie out of the stroller, “Yes it is, has Gareth been showing off all day?”  

Fran nods at Laurel, “He hasn’t shut up about her, but it’s fine, he’s happy.”  As she says this, Gareth walks into the office.  “There’s my girls!”  He wraps an arm around Laurel, kissing her on the cheek.  

“How’s my little princess today?  Daddy missed you so much.”  He takes Jackie from Laurel, he kisses her over and over again on her face, making her giggle a bit.  “We brought some soup leftover from what your mom made to eat for lunch.”  

Gareth walks to his door, opening it.  “We can eat in here, Fran, if you need me, I’ll be in here for about an hour.”  

They get inside and Gareth takes a seat on the couch in his office.  “How was your morning?”  She plops down next to him, reaching under the stroller for the soup.  “I cleaned, I did dishes, I did laundry, basic stay at home mom, housewife stuff.”  

“Laurel, stop it, that’s not what you are, at all.  I told you I’m looking for nannies when I’m not in meetings.  I’ll find someone so that you can work on new films and stuff.”  Gareth puts Jackie in her swing that he put in his office this morning, and took a styrofoam bowl of soup from Laurel.  

“I know, I just am not equipped for being a housewife, Gareth.”  He takes her hand, rubbing his thumb across her knuckles.  “You’re not a housewife, Laurel, stop saying that.  I will find someone in the next week, I promise.  Until then, please let your mom help you out while I’m at work.”  

Laurel rolls her eyes, taking a bite of her soup, “Fine, I’ll call her when I put Jackie down for a nap after lunch.”  Gareth looks over at the wide awake baby in her swing.  “Did you bring her big blanket that we lay down on the floor at home?”  She points to the bag hanging off the stroller, next to the diaper bag.  “It’s in there, why?”  

“I’m gonna lay it down for her to lie on.”  He gets up, putting his soup bowl on the coffee table.  He grabs the blanket and spreads it out on the floor by his desk.  “Jackie, you wanna lay on the floor? Huh?”  He grabs her out of the swing and puts her on the floor, as Laurel grabs some stuffed animals and her pillow.  

“Here you go baby.”  She puts the pillow behind Jackie, holding her up.  Then surrounds her with her stuffed animals and toys.  Gareth sits down on the floor next to Jackie, Laurel sits down on her knees on the other side of her.  

“You know, Laurel, we are pretty good at making babies.”  Her head whips up, “I’m sorry, what?  We aren’t having any more.”  Gareth lays down on his stomach next to Jackie, “But Laurel, look at this face.  Don’t you want another one?  We can try for a boy next time, come on.”  

“Gareth, Jackie isn’t even two weeks old yet, calm down.  I’m still recovering from her.”  Gareth sticks his lip out and leans over, putting his face next to Jackie’s.  “But look at this chubby little face.”  

He repeatedly kisses Jackie’s cheek, making her laugh.  “No.  I love her, but no.”  Gareth pouts, flipping over to his back.  “Fine, at least think about it, though.  Jackie might need a sibling.  

“Gareth! Give me like a year, and then I will start thinking about if I want another one.”  They hear a knock at Gareth’s door, “Come in!”  Fran walks in with stacks of folders.  “You need to go through the new budget proposal from the democrats.”  

He sits up, taking the folders, “Thank you, I will work on that when I’m done here.”  Fran walks out, leaving them alone again.  “You’re super busy, huh?”  He nods, “Yeah, I guess being out of the office for a week makes coming back difficult.”  

“So you’re gonna be here pretty late the next few nights?”  Laurel asks, Gareth looks up at her, seeing the look of disappointment, he moves over next to her, pulling her into his arms.  “Laurel, I will be home no later than six o’clock, unless something comes up.  I will be home as soon as possible every night, I promise.”  He runs his hand up and down her arm, soothingly.  

“As long as you’re there by the time she needs to be put down for bed, that would be great, because she prefers you to put her to bed.”  He leans in, giving her a quick peck on the lips.  “Okay, I can make that happen.  And if I’m not home that early one night, just call me and I’ll head right over.”  

“Thank you, I love you.”  Laurel says, leaning in to kiss him again, “I love you too, but, I need to get to work.  You guys can stay, but I have a lot to get done.”  Gareth says, standing up, extending his arm to help Laurel up.  

“We will stay for a little bit, I don’t wanna go home just yet cause I might just fall asleep.”  Gareth smiles at her as he picks Jackie up off the floor, carrying her over to his desk with him.  “You can take a nap on my couch, I’ll watch her.”  Laurel walks over to Gareth’s couch and flops down, closing her eyes.  

 

“You wanna go wake mommy up?”  Gareth asks Jackie in his baby voice, he stands up from his desk and walks over to the couch.  He kneels down next to Laurel, and places Jackie next to her.  Laurel wakes up, looking down at Jackie.  

“Well, what are you doing over here?”  Gareth leans up, kissing Laurel on the lips.  “Ready to go home?”  Laurel nods, sitting up with Jackie in her arms, “How long was I asleep?  How’d you feed Jackie?”  

“It’s 5:30 now, and there was a bottle in the diaper bag.”  He helps her up off the couch and they pack up and head home.  

“So, what should we do for dinner?”  Gareth moves his left hand to the center of the stroller, grabbing Laurel’s hand with his right.  “How about you make that chicken and rice stuff you made a couple weeks ago?”  Before he can answer, Jackie starts crying from the stroller.  Gareth stops so that Laurel can get her out.  

“What is it, baby?”  Gareth finds her pacifier, and hands it to Laurel.  “She might be hungry again.  When did you feed her?”  

“It was about two, I think.”  Laurel puts the pacifier in Jackie’s mouth, “Alright, I’ll feed her when we get home.”  They start walking again, rounding the corner their apartment is on.  “Go on in so you can feed her, I’ll get the stroller up there.”  

Laurel heads up the stairs with a whimpering baby in her arms, and goes into the apartment, heading to their bedroom to change before going into the nursery to feed Jackie.  “Laurel, I’m gonna start on dinner, do you want a snack?”  Gareth yells from the front hallway.  “Yes please!”  Gareth goes into the kitchen, grabbing a small bag of kettle chips off the counter, taking them to Laurel.  

“Here you go.”  He opens them and hands her the bag.  “She seems to be happy now.”  Gareth looks down at Jackie, “Yeah, she was just hungry, weren’t you?”  Laurel says, using her baby voice.  

“I’m gonna go start on dinner, do you need anything else?”  Laurel shakes her head, as Gareth gets up to head out of the room.  “Wait, can you bring me my big water bottle? It needs to be refilled.”  

“Yeah, I’ll be right back.”  He runs into the kitchen, and fills up her water before taking it to her.  “Okay, do you want a salad with the chicken?”  Laurel shakes her head, “No, but I am starving, so hurry up.”  

 

An hour later, Laurel and Gareth were about to start eating, when Jackie decided to start screaming.  “I’ll get her, you need to eat.”  Gareth says, getting up from the table to go to the nursery.  

“Hey now, why are you being so fussy today?”  He picks her up out of her bassinet, holding her to his chest, safely.  She doesn’t crying, so he rubs her back soothingly, “What’s wrong, princess?  I’m here, you’re okay.”  He lightly bounces her in his arms when she continues to scream, “Jackie, sweetheart, oh my goodness.”  

He sits down in the rocking chair as Laurel comes into the room, “Hey, what’s wrong?”  Gareth shrugs, as Jackie continues screaming and crying.  “Jacqueline, you wanna see mommy?”  Laurel grabs her out of Gareth’s arms.  

“What’s wrong baby?”  Jackie keeps crying, even when with Laurel.  “She feels warm, Gareth.”  Laurel says, looking at him, a bit panicked.  “I’ll get the thermometer.”  

He grabs it out of Jackie’s nightstand, handing it to Laurel.  Gareth takes her so that Laurel can use the thermometer.  He rubs the back of Jackie’s head, placing little kisses on her forehead as she snuggles into his chest, still crying.  

“It says she’s normal.  Take her onesie off, that might be why she’s so warm.”  Laurel says, Gareth carries Jackie over to her changing table.  He lays her down and peels off her onesie, leaving her in just her diaper.  Gareth softly runs his hand down her belly, trying to relax her.  

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay.”  Gareth soothes her, as she starts relaxing.  “There we go, you’re okay.”  Gareth picks her back up so she can cuddle into his chest again.  “Let’s go finish dinner, I’ll let her fall back asleep and then take her into our room.”  

Laurel leads him back into the dining room, and they sit back down to finish eating.  “That was scary.”  Laurel says, taking a drink of her water.  “Yeah, I know.”  Gareth rubs Jackie’s back as she falls back asleep.  

“I’m hoping that took enough out of her to where she’ll sleep through most of the night.”  Gareth says, taking a bite of his food.  “You could really use a good night’s sleep,” he adds.  

“That’s exactly why there is more bottles in her milk fridge.  So, if she gets hungry in the middle of the night, you have to get up.”  Laurel says, smirking.  Gareth chuckles at her, “Okay, that’s fine.  I’m working from home tomorrow, anyways.”  She looks up from her plate, confused.  “Why?”  

“Well, I need to look for a nanny for you, and I missed you and Jackie too much this morning.”  Laurel shakes her head, smiling.  “You’re working for the senate, Gareth, you can’t really afford more time away.  There’s a lot of shit that went down last presidential term, you gotta fix everything.”  

He looks down at Jackie, before looking back to Laurel, “I’ll still be working, don’t worry.  Tomorrow is Friday, anyways.”  Laurel gets up, picking up her plate, followed by Gareth doing the same.  They take their dishes to the sink, Laurel taking Gareth’s from him, so he can sit in the living room with Jackie, who’s now fighting sleep.  

 

“She still not asleep?”  Laurel comes into the living room ten minutes later, she sits down next to Gareth, who is resting his cheek on the top of Jackie’s head, her eyes, wide open.  “I don’t know how to get her to sleep.  She usually will doze off on my chest.”  

“Let’s just try putting her to bed, we both could use some sleep anyways.”  Gareth gets up, Laurel taking his hand that he offered to her, as he leads her to their bedroom.  

“Goodnight princess, sleep well, I love you.”  Gareth says, kissing Jackie before putting her in her bassinet.  As soon as he lays her down, her eyes close.  “Perfect.”  He walks over to their bed, falling onto his back as Laurel runs her hand down his chest, they fall asleep, completely exhausted.  

 

At about 2 in the morning, Jackie wakes up, screaming, again.  “I’ve got her, go back to sleep.”  Gareth says, getting out of bed and going to get Jackie.  “Hey, hey, it’s alright.”  He pulls her out and rests her head on his shoulder.

He walks her into the nursery to sit in the rocking chair, “What’s got you so upset, huh?”  He rubs her back, as she hiccups.  “Oh no, do you have the hiccups?”  Her crying softens, but she continues hiccuping.  “Poor thing.”  

Once she calms down, she hiccups again, which makes her cry, again.  Laurel walks into the nursery, “Go back to bed, Laurel, she just has the hiccups.”  Laurel walks over and reaches under the crib, getting a bottle from the mini fridge.  

“Here, your mom said you used to get the hiccups when you were a newborn, and a bottle helped.”  He repositions Jackie, and takes the bottle from Laurel.  “Thank you, now go to bed, you need sleep.”    


	4. The Day Jackie Came Into The World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I know this should've been my first chapter, but it took me so long to write, sorry.

Laurel got to the point in her pregnancy, where she gave up even leaving the house unless she absolutely had to.  Gareth didn’t like her straining herself, and she had to admit, she was always exhausted.  One night, Gareth was dragging her to a fundraiser for work, and she really did not want to go.  

“Gareth, I just want to sleep, why can’t I stay home?”  He walks over to the bed, where Laurel is lying down in her formal wear.  He sits on the edge of the bed, running his hand over her growing bump.  “Laurel, come on, it’s one event.  People are starting to think that we are separating, you haven’t been out with me in a month and a half.”  

“Because, I’m pregnant and tired.  Your stupid baby keeps me up at night.”  He leans down and places a soft kiss to her belly.  “It’s your baby too, Laurel.”  He notices her scrunch up her face in discomfort, “Is she moving?”  

“Who said it was a girl?”  She asks, smirking at him.  “The doctor, Laurel. We are having a girl.  That’s why the nursery is covered in pink.”  

“Whatever, by the way, I’m not wearing heels tonight.  An 8 month pregnant lady in heels, sounds like a terrible idea.”  Gareth chuckles and rubs her lower back, “That’s fine, let’s go.  We gotta start walking now to make it in time.”  He helps Laurel sit up, “We’re walking?”  She asks, letting out a sigh.  

“Yeah, the doctor said it’ll be good for you, come on.”  They head out of the apartment and head toward the capitol building.  Once they’re at the bottom of the steps of the building, Laurel stops.  “Hey, you alright?”  Gareth places his hand on the small of her back.  “Yeah, she’s moving again.”  He kisses her on the cheek, “That’s good, she needs to move positions before she can come, right?”  Laurel nods, grabbing her stomach.  “It doesn’t feel good, though.”  

“Just breathe baby.”  She stands upright and looks over at him.  “I think she’s situated.  Let’s go, I need to sit and I need some food.”  Gareth wraps an arm around her waist and they head up the stairs into the building.  

 

“Gareth, can I borrow you for a second?”  Laurel asks, out of breath.  “Yeah, if you’ll excuse me, Senator Johnson, my wife needs me.”  He shakes the senator’s hand and follows Laurel out of the offices and into the hallway.  “What’s wrong, Laurel? Are you okay?”  She shakes her head, “I don’t know, something’s wrong, I think.”  His hand goes to her stomach, without a second thought.  “What happened?”            

“I was talking to one of the senators and felt a really painful cramp in my lower stomach.  Which I remember Rochelle said could be a contraction.”  He thinks for a minute.  “Okay, we still have a couple weeks until your due date, it could just be braxton hicks.  Come on, let’s walk around a bit.”  He takes her hand and guides her through the halls of the capitol building.  

 

“Gareth, stop walking, I need a second.”  They’ve been walking around for thirty minutes and Laurel has had two contractions since.  Gareth rubs her back and places soft kisses on her forehead.  She lets out a breath and grabs Gareth’s hand.  “Let’s go home, Laurel.  The walk home might help too.”  

“Call Rochelle, ask her what we should do.”  Gareth helps her back to the front of the building and they head out to their apartment.  When Gareth gets off the phone with Rochelle, Laurel is doubled over in another wave of pain.  “Laurel, come on baby.”  He helps her up to finish the walk home, since they’re on the street of their apartment.  “Gareth, I need to lie down.”  He helps her up the steps and into the apartment.  “Here, lie on the couch, I’ll go get you some clothes to change into.”  He runs into the bedroom and grabs some sweats for Laurel.  

“Here you go sweetie.”  He sits in front of Laurel helping her out of her dress and into the sweats.  “What did Rochelle say, Gareth?”  

“She said to wait it out, see how much closer contractions get, if they stop, then they’re just pre-labor.”  She lies back down and Gareth rubs her side, as she closes her eyes.  “Gareth, will you get me some water?”  He gets up and runs into the kitchen, hearing Laurel breathing heavily again in the other room.  “Here baby, I’m gonna go change my clothes really quick, I’ll be back in a second.”  

 

“Gareth, call Rochelle and have her meet us at the hospital.  We gotta go, now.”  Laurel gets out of bed, Gareth looks up at her, sleepily.  “Why?  I thought your contractions stopped.”  He pulls the covers off of him and gets up, walking over to Laurel.  “My water broke, Gareth.  Come on, let’s go.  I want to get as much pain medication in me as I can as soon as possible.”  

“Laurel, you said you didn’t want pain meds, you said that no matter what you say, not to let them give you pain meds.”  She grabs his hand, balancing herself to put on her shoes.  “Gareth, shut up.  I just need less than what your mom had.”  He puts on his shoes and helps Laurel out to the car.  “You’re trying to beat my mom at having a baby?”  Laurel nods, shutting the car door as a contraction hits. 

 

“You’re doing great, Laurel.  Just keep breathing.”  Rochelle says, rubbing Laurel’s back.  “I’m trying, I need an epidural.”  Gareth kneels down and grabs Laurel’s hand.  “Laurel, you can do this.  My mom didn’t have an epidural with me.”  

“I know, but it hurts, get me the epidural.”  Gareth looks up at Rochelle and nods, “Go on and tell them she’ll want it.”  Rochelle walks out of the room and Laurel leans forward, kissing Gareth.  “I want this baby out, can we rush a C-Section?”  Gareth chuckles, kissing Laurel on the knuckles.  “She’ll be out soon enough, baby.”  

 

Once Laurel gets to the point of being able to have the epidural, she decides against it, considering Gareth’s mom called and told her she was able to do without, so Laurel should be able to as well.  “Laurel, it’s not a competition, every woman is different.”  Rochelle says, urging her to get it.  “Rochelle, I will not do it.  I’d rather break Gareth’s hand than have pain meds.”  

Gareth shakes his hand, regaining the feeling, “I’d rather you not break my hand though, babe.”  Laurel repositions herself so she’s on her back, “I wanna get up, Gareth.”  He helps her up off the bed, “You wanna walk or just stand?”  Laurel points to the door, “Walk, I need to move.”  

 

Laurel stops in the middle of the hallway, grabbing Gareth’s shoulders. “I want her out, now.”  Gareth rubs her hips, trying to help ease the pain, “I know, you're almost there, Laurel. You're doing great.”  They head back to their room for her doctor to check her. 

 

“Alright, she's at 10. You ready to push Laurel?”  She shakes her head, grabbing Gareth’s hand.  “You can do this, Laurel, come on.”  Gareth whispers to her, in a cheerful voice.  “I can’t Gareth, I’m so tired.”  Rochelle uses the bed controls to sit Laurel up a bit, making it easier on her.  “Alright Laurel, next contraction, give me a big push, okay?”  

Laurel’s legs are lifted into the stirrups as she feels another contraction coming.  “Okay, big deep breath in, and then push.”  Laurel grips Gareth’s hand as he whispers soothing things in her ear, she pushes for a few seconds before falling back on the bed.  “Oh god, I hate this so much!”  

“Come on baby, every push is that much closer to the end.  You’re doing great.”  Laurel scowls over at Gareth, “Shut up, I hate you right now too.”  She looks back toward the doctor, trying to focus on her breathing.  “Alright Laurel, channel that into pushing your baby out, come on.”  

She continues pushing for about twenty minutes before the baby’s head even starts crowning.  She falls back against the pillows, letting Gareth run a wet cloth over her face, “You’re doing great, Laurel, she’s almost here.”  She leans in closer to him so her head is resting on his shoulder.  “I don’t wanna do this anymore, Gareth.”  She says, completely exhausted.  “I know you don’t, but you’re almost done.”  He repositions himself and her so that he’s sitting on the bed with her back against his chest.  

 

“Gareth, you’re gonna need to move back off the bed, we need to reposition her, the head is stuck.”  Laurel lets out a whimper as Gareth gets off the bed.  He grabs her hand and kneels down next to her.  “It’s alright, you’re gonna be okay.”  

“Gareth, can you help move her so that she’s on all fours on the bed?”  Gareth gets up and helps Laurel position herself before standing behind the bed where Laurel’s head is.  “Rochelle, can you get me some ice to rub on her neck?”  Laurel grabs Gareth’s forearms steadying herself.  “Alright Laurel, I need a really strong push, okay?”  Gareth moves the hair out of Laurel’s face and takes ice cubes from Rochelle, running them over the back of Laurel’s neck.  

“Why isn’t she coming out?”  Laurel yells, Gareth kisses her knuckles, as her hands are clutching his shoulders.  “We’ve almost got her, Laurel, one more push and her head will be out.”  Laurel pushes, letting out a loud cry.  “Alright, we have the head, do you want to lie on your back again?”  Laurel nods and they move her back to her back.  

 

Gareth gets back on the bed behind Laurel so she can rest against him, again, “Alright Laurel, just a couple more and she’ll be out.”  Laurel continues pushing for about ten minutes, and right before the last one, falls back onto Gareth.  “I can’t do anymore, Gareth.  He puts his head in Laurel’s neck, placing soft kisses on her collar bone.  “Yes you can, come on baby, I’ve got you.”  She pushes one more time and falls back into Gareth as the doctor places their baby on Laurel’s chest.  

“Oh my god, Laurel.  You did it.”  He kisses her over and over as they start cleaning off the baby, she’s not crying just yet, but they know she’s okay,  “Gareth, would you like to cut the cord?”  He nods and takes the scissors from the nurse.  The baby lets out a cry and Laurel rubs her back, calmly.  

“Holy shit, Laurel, I can’t believe this, she’s perfect.”  He caresses his little girl’s head, as she slowly stops crying.  “Gareth, we are never doing this again.  I’m exhausted.”  Laurel buries her face into his neck and Rochelle comes over, taking the baby over to be weighed and bathed.  

 

“Let me see my beautiful niece.”  Luke bursts into the hospital room.  “Jesus Christ, Luke, I’m trying to sleep!”  Gareth walks over to him with the baby, handing her off.  “Oh my goodness, you are the sweetest thing.”  Gareth goes back over to sit on the edge of the bed and Laurel puts her head in his lap, closing her eyes.  

“What’s her name?”  Luke asks, sitting in the chair opposite the bed, “Jacqueline Olivia Ritter, Laurel chose her first name, and I did her middle name.”  Luke nods, “It shows, Laurel’s name is better.”  

“Ha! I told you he’d say that, Gareth.”  They hear Laurel say, her eyes are still closed and Gareth shakes his head, “We can’t all be Kennedy obsessed democrats.”  Luke chuckles, rocking Jackie in his arms, “We all should be, shouldn’t we, Jackie?”  He looks down at her, talking in his baby voice.


End file.
